ashes, ashes (time to go down)
by starmocha
Summary: Michael/Mallory. One-Shot. — It was him, but not the him she knew.


**Author's Note:** Episode 10 is canceled. Fanon, ahoy~

this was written in a rush, so lmao idc if it makes sense or not. I just hated that last episode and wanted something else instead

hmu with any fix-fics you think I should read. Michael deserves better than that trash ending we got.

 **TITLE** | _Milk and Cookies_ , Melanie Martinez

* * *

 **ashes, ashes (time to go down)**  
 _by starmocha_

Monsters wear the cleverest disguises, Mallory thought, seeing the soft angelic blond curls framed his handsome features, a perfect mask for the dark, sinister aura that trailed after this child.

A child.

It was him, but not the him she knew.

But it was him.

 _I'm Michael_ , he introduced himself, and she wondered how she could ever kill him.

 **.**

She had gone too far into his past, back to a time when a small boy lived with his grandmother.

She could see the old woman was disturbed and tired, but she dutifully hid the bodies in her yard, planting roses after roses for every victim her young grandson claimed. No matter how sweet a rose may be, eventually the stench of many became far too overwhelming, a constant reminder of what laid beneath fertilizing each pretty flower.

 **.**

He grew overnight. It was impossible, she wanted to think, but knew as a son of Satan, this was the least mysterious thing about him. He had the body of a young man, but the mind of a child. She would not let this trickery distract her from her mission.

She could kill him now when his power was still immature. He was starting to look like the monster who had taken away her fellow sisters. She just had to remind herself of how he had effortlessly killed Zoe and Queenie. She just had to remember Madison and Cordelia sacrificing themselves so she could save humanity from him. She just had to remember that he would one day bring about the end.

 _Mallory? What's wrong?_

But there was something in his eyes. At times they were inquisitive, showing far too much brilliance for such a young life. There was also a quiet yearning in his eyes, almost pleading for someone to come save him, to show him what it was like to be good.

And she stilled, wondering if that was, perhaps, just her own foolish hope that there might be some remnant of goodness within such an evil being.

 **.**

His grandmother died. Killed herself to finally be free of him.

She had never seen him cry. Never seen him so distraught, so desperate, holding and pleading for her to come back to him. He promised to be good, to find a way to control his violent impulses, if only she would let him be with her again.

Mallory wondered why her heart ached. He was a monster. The animals and babysitters killed were nothing in comparison to the wasteland that was still waiting in the future. Kill him now when he was so confused and lost, and the world would be saved.

But she hesitated.

If he cried, if he even regretted for a moment, then that meant he had a heart somewhere in that dark void, right?

Mallory desperately wished that was true.

 **.**

He smiled again. A ghost of the Murder House had taken him under his wings, showed him a relationship bearing resemblance to that of a father and son. He played games, he was learning, he was thriving, he could be human.

In that instant, all thoughts of killing him vanished.

Maybe, just maybe, that small shard of good in him was enough to win over his dark side.

 **.**

Not everyone could see the good in him.

Not even his own father. Nor his mother.

The light in his eyes died when he was so violently rejected.

He was never loved. Could never be loved. There was too much evil in him, everyone said, and that seemed enough to condemn him. To forsake him time and time again.

 **.**

That tiny ray of hope disappeared. He seemed to have given up, seemed to have embraced the dark side within him. Even the ghost who seemed to care about him had given up on him. His twin would forever remain a newborn baby in this sad afterlife. His older half-sister seemed to fear him, never once crossing path with her younger sibling.

He was truly alone in the world.

Except she was still here. Still watching. Still hesitating.

 _Aren't you going to leave me, too?_ he bit out coldly, having always sensed her presence near.

She closed her eyes, and inhaled.

 **.**

 _It's alright_ , she said, her hands were already wiping away the frustrated tears that stained his cheeks. _I'll save you._

He didn't believe her, but he smiled, so cold and mirthless. Her own smile was strained, because she knew that when she saved him, he would finally die at her hands, and her bleak future would disappear.

 **.**

Eventually, she would kill him. She would avenge her fallen sisters. She would rewrite history and save humanity.

But not yet. Not now.

If only for a moment, she would stay and hold him. In a time when he could have been saved.


End file.
